POLITICALLY DIRECT

AOC was a Girl Scout … just say no to the cookies

Jane Chastain is a Southern California-based broadcaster, author and political commentator. Despite her present emphasis on politics, Jane always will be remembered as the nation's first female TV sportscaster, spending 17 years on the sports beat. Jane blogs at JaneChastain.com. She is a pilot who lives on a private runway.

This is the week when real feminists separate from their radical counterparts. For the uninformed, March 8 is officially International Women’s Day, but it is the catalyst for week-long events held throughout this country and around the world. Sounds harmless, if not downright inspiring to many unsuspecting women and girls who want to celebrate the right to be all that they can be. Unfortunately, it comes with a lot of baggage you may not want for your daughter or yourself.

This annual event was begun in 1909 in New York by the Socialist Party of America. In 1917, it became a national holiday in Russia and was primarily celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until 1975 when it was embraced by the United Nations.

This years theme is “Balance for Better” aimed a building a “gender balanced world.” What could possibility be wrong with that? Nothing, unless it is artificially enforced and government-imposed on women who prefer not to be forced into jobs they don’t want or the full-time workforce at the expense of their families, which is the goal of many radical feminists.

It is no small coincidence that the Girl Scouts are out in force this month selling cookies on street corners, in front of grocery stores and other places of business. For many years, I would buy at least one box from every girl I met, even if I had a dozen or more boxes at home.

The Girl Scouts were an important part of my formative years, and I sold hundreds of boxes of these cookies myself, so I considered it payback, paying it forward so to speak. Not anymore.

Today’s Girl Scouts are a far cry from those of my youth, which trained us to put God and country before everything else. Today, God in the Girl Scout promise has an asterisk, meaning the great I AM and His moral absolutes can be replaced by anything, including oneself.

Country, also, has taken a backseat. The emphasis is on global citizenship, which is fine unless you stop to consider that most of the world is not free and the world’s values are often at odds with our own.

It is little wonder the Girl Scouts have taken a sharp left turn and can be found marching for abortion rights, gun control and other radical feminist events like International Women’s Day.

The IWD website encourages participants to donate to charities that promote their causes.

“No matter which feminist cause speaks to your heart, there is an organization that will resonate with you. This list encompasses programs fighting for reproductive rights, equal protection under the law, educational opportunities, political opportunities. …”

The recommended charities include the National Organization of Women, Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood and Ultra Violet, which promotes the election of progressive (that is the new term for ultra liberal) women.

In fact, the Girl Scouts are celebrating the victory won by their alums in the 2018 midterms on its website, beginning with their star, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who attributes much of her success to what she learned as part of this organization. Now Girl Scout alums make up 72 percent of female senators and 60 percent of the women in the 116th Congress. Although the website tries to strike a bipartisan tone, it is no accident that, among this year’s freshmen, Carol Miller is the only Republican, and she is much older, 68, than the rest. Her training in scouting was well before the feminist takeover that occurred in 1970.

When feminist Betty Friedan was put on the national governing board the Girl Scouts began purging their materials of all positive references to homemakers. Partnerships with Planned Parenthood followed, and the Girl Scouts adopted the new global agenda.

To be sure, there are many fine people still engaged in Girl Scouting at the local level. Unfortunately, the troops have no say in national policy, and they keep very little cookie money.

So before you decide to embrace an International Women’s Day celebration or buy the cookies, ask yourself, “Will the country be better off with more representatives like the young socialist Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez?”